🖼️American Art – Before 1865 Unit 1 – American Art: Origins to 1865

Key Artistic Movements

• Neoclassicism drew inspiration from classical antiquity, emphasizing idealized forms, moral virtue, and rational order (Jacques-Louis David)
  • Characterized by clean lines, symmetry, and balanced compositions
  • Reflected Enlightenment ideals and republican values in the early United States
• Romanticism rejected Neoclassical rationality in favor of emotion, individualism, and the sublime in nature (Thomas Cole)
  • Celebrated the untamed American wilderness as a source of spiritual renewal and national identity
  • Influenced the Hudson River School and American landscape painting
• Hudson River School painters depicted the American landscape as a vast, pristine wilderness imbued with divine presence (Albert Bierstadt)
  • Emphasized the grandeur and sublimity of nature, often featuring dramatic light effects and atmospheric perspective
  • Reflected a sense of national pride and manifest destiny in the mid-19th century
• Luminism emerged as a subgenre of the Hudson River School, characterized by tranquil, glowing light and smooth, invisible brushwork (Fitz Henry Lane)
  • Conveyed a sense of spiritual harmony between man and nature
  • Influenced by Transcendentalist philosophy and the idea of nature as a manifestation of the divine
• Genre painting depicted everyday scenes of American life, often with a moralizing or anecdotal quality (William Sidney Mount)
  • Reflected the growing interest in national identity and the democratization of art in the antebellum period
  • Portrayed the lives of ordinary Americans, including farmers, laborers, and domestic scenes

Influential Artists and Their Works

• John Singleton Copley painted portraits of colonial elites and historical scenes, bridging the gap between colonial and early American art (Paul Revere)
  • Known for his precise, realistic style and attention to detail in depicting fabrics and textures
• Benjamin West, an American expatriate in London, painted historical and religious scenes that influenced the development of Neoclassicism (The Death of General Wolfe)
  • Served as a mentor to many young American artists who studied abroad, including Copley and Gilbert Stuart
• Gilbert Stuart painted iconic portraits of George Washington and other founding fathers, establishing a distinctly American style of portraiture (The Athenaeum Portrait)
  • Known for his ability to capture the character and personality of his subjects
  • His portraits of Washington became the basis for the one dollar bill and other official images
• Thomas Cole founded the Hudson River School and painted allegorical landscapes that explored themes of nature, civilization, and divine providence (The Course of Empire)
  • His series, such as "The Voyage of Life" and "The Course of Empire," used landscape as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of human existence
• Frederic Edwin Church, a student of Cole, painted monumental landscapes that celebrated the sublime beauty of the American wilderness (Heart of the Andes)
  • Known for his detailed, panoramic views and his ability to convey a sense of awe and wonder in the face of nature
  • His works were influenced by his travels to South America and the Arctic, as well as his interest in science and natural history

Historical Context and Cultural Influences

• The American Revolution and the establishment of the United States as an independent nation led to a search for a distinct American cultural identity
  • Artists sought to create a national style that reflected American values and experiences, separate from European traditions
• The Enlightenment and republican ideals influenced early American art, emphasizing reason, virtue, and the common good
  • Neoclassical art, with its references to ancient Greece and Rome, was seen as a way to express these ideals visually
• Westward expansion and the idea of manifest destiny shaped American landscape painting in the mid-19th century
  • The Hudson River School and Luminist painters celebrated the American wilderness as a source of national pride and divine inspiration
  • Their works often depicted the frontier as a vast, untamed space waiting to be explored and settled
• Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that emphasized the spiritual connection between man and nature, influenced American art and literature in the antebellum period
  • Artists like Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church incorporated Transcendentalist themes into their landscape paintings
  • The idea of nature as a manifestation of the divine and a source of spiritual renewal was central to their work
• The growth of the middle class and the democratization of art in the 19th century led to a greater demand for accessible, relatable art
  • Genre painting, which depicted everyday scenes of American life, became increasingly popular
  • The rise of print media and mass-produced engravings made art more widely available to the American public

Techniques and Mediums

• Oil painting was the dominant medium for American art in the 18th and early 19th centuries
  • Artists like John Singleton Copley and Gilbert Stuart mastered the technique of oil painting to create highly detailed, realistic portraits
• Landscape painters of the Hudson River School and Luminism often worked en plein air, or outdoors, to capture the changing effects of light and atmosphere
  • They used sketches and studies made on-site to create finished paintings in the studio
  • The use of a camera obscura, a device that projects an image onto a surface, helped some artists achieve greater accuracy in their compositions
• Watercolor and gouache were also used by American artists, particularly for sketches and studies
  • These mediums allowed for greater spontaneity and portability than oil painting
• Printmaking techniques, such as engraving, etching, and lithography, became increasingly important in the 19th century
  • Prints made art more accessible and affordable to a wider audience
  • Artists like Currier and Ives produced popular prints that depicted American life and landscapes
• Sculpture, though less prevalent than painting, was also practiced by American artists in the 18th and 19th centuries
  • Neoclassical sculptors like Horatio Greenough and Hiram Powers created idealized figures that embodied American values and ideals
  • Later sculptors, such as Thomas Crawford and Harriet Hosmer, began to explore more naturalistic and expressive forms

Themes and Symbolism

• The American landscape was a central theme in 19th-century American art, serving as a symbol of national identity and divine providence
  • The Hudson River School painters depicted the American wilderness as a vast, untamed space that reflected the country's potential and manifest destiny
  • Luminists portrayed the landscape as a harmonious, spiritually charged realm that embodied Transcendentalist ideals
• Historical and allegorical themes were also prominent in American art, particularly in the early 19th century
  • Benjamin West and John Trumbull painted scenes from American history and mythology that celebrated the country's founding and ideals
  • Thomas Cole's allegorical series, such as "The Voyage of Life" and "The Course of Empire," used the landscape as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of human existence
• Portraiture served as a means of representing American identity and values
  • Gilbert Stuart's portraits of George Washington and other founding fathers established a distinctly American style that emphasized character and republican virtues
  • Later portraitists, such as Thomas Sully and Rembrandt Peale, began to explore more romantic and expressive approaches to capturing their subjects
• Genre scenes depicting everyday life in America became increasingly popular in the mid-19th century
  • These paintings often had a moralizing or anecdotal quality, reflecting the values and experiences of the growing middle class
  • William Sidney Mount's scenes of rural life, for example, celebrated the virtues of simplicity, hard work, and community

Evolution of American Artistic Identity

• Early American art was heavily influenced by European traditions, particularly those of England and France
  • Colonial artists like John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West received their training in Europe and brought back Neoclassical and Romantic styles
• After the American Revolution, artists sought to create a distinctly American style that reflected the country's newfound independence and ideals
  • The Hudson River School emerged as the first truly American art movement, celebrating the unique beauty and grandeur of the American landscape
  • Genre painting and portraiture also began to reflect American subjects and experiences, rather than European models
• The mid-19th century saw a growing interest in American history and mythology as subjects for art
  • Artists like Emanuel Leutze and Frederic Edwin Church painted monumental works that celebrated American heroes and achievements
  • The American Art-Union, founded in 1839, played a significant role in promoting and distributing American art to a wider audience
• The Civil War and its aftermath marked a turning point in American art
  • Artists like Winslow Homer and Eastman Johnson depicted the realities of war and its impact on American society
  • The postwar period saw a shift towards more realistic and socially engaged art, as exemplified by the work of Thomas Eakins and the Ashcan School
• By the end of the 19th century, American art had established itself as a distinct and vibrant tradition
  • The influence of European modernism began to be felt, as artists like Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent brought back new ideas from their studies abroad
  • The groundwork had been laid for the emergence of uniquely American movements like Impressionism, Realism, and the Ashcan School in the early 20th century

Notable Institutions and Patrons

• The American Art-Union, founded in 1839, played a significant role in promoting and distributing American art to a wider audience
  • The organization held annual exhibitions and lotteries, allowing middle-class Americans to purchase original works of art
  • It also commissioned and published engravings of American paintings, making them more widely accessible
• The National Academy of Design, established in 1825, served as a major center for art education and exhibition in the 19th century
  • The Academy held annual exhibitions and provided training for many prominent American artists, including Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1870, began to collect and exhibit American art in the late 19th century
  • The museum's collection of American paintings and sculptures helped to establish the canon of American art history
  • Its exhibitions and publications played a key role in shaping public understanding and appreciation of American art
• Private collectors and patrons also played a significant role in supporting American art in the 19th century
  • Wealthy industrialists like Thomas B. Clarke and Luman Reed commissioned works from leading American artists and helped to establish a market for their work
  • Philanthropists like Catharine Lorillard Wolfe and Lila Acheson Wallace donated significant collections of American art to museums and institutions
• The federal government also began to support American art in the 19th century, particularly through the commissioning of public monuments and buildings
  • The United States Capitol, for example, features a range of American artworks, including historical paintings by John Trumbull and sculptures by Horatio Greenough and Thomas Crawford
  • The Library of Congress and other government buildings also commissioned works from American artists, helping to establish a national artistic identity

Legacy and Impact on Later Art

• The Hudson River School and Luminist movements had a lasting impact on American landscape painting
  • Their celebration of the American wilderness and their emphasis on the spiritual power of nature influenced later artists like Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran
  • The idea of the American landscape as a symbol of national identity and manifest destiny continued to shape American art well into the 20th century
• The genre painting tradition established by artists like William Sidney Mount and George Caleb Bingham paved the way for later American Realists like Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins
  • Their focus on everyday life and their attention to social and political issues influenced the development of American art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• The portraiture of Gilbert Stuart and his contemporaries set a standard for American portrait painting that would be followed by later artists like John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler
  • Their emphasis on capturing the character and personality of their subjects, rather than just their likeness, helped to establish portraiture as a major genre in American art
• The influence of European modernism on American artists like Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent in the late 19th century laid the groundwork for the emergence of uniquely American modernist movements in the early 20th century
  • The Ashcan School, for example, drew on the social realism of earlier American genre painters while also incorporating the looser brushwork and urban subject matter of European modernists
  • The American Impressionists, like Childe Hassam and Theodore Robinson, adapted the techniques and subject matter of French Impressionism to the American landscape and experience
• The institutional and patronage structures established in the 19th century, such as the American Art-Union and the National Academy of Design, helped to create a sustainable ecosystem for American art that would continue to support and promote artists in the 20th century and beyond
  • The growth of museums, galleries, and art schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided new opportunities for American artists to exhibit and sell their work, as well as to learn from and engage with the broader art world
  • The legacy of private and public patronage established in the 19th century continued to shape American art in the 20th century, with collectors, foundations, and government agencies playing a key role in supporting and promoting American artists and movements.